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Author Topic: Re: The X-Com Files - 3.5: Whispers In The Dark  (Read 2453399 times)

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2580 on: July 16, 2019, 11:27:35 pm »
Sorry I'm kinda absent lately, my parents are moving and I don't have time for much right now, because I'm hauling stuff like a Settlers/Rimworld character. Or assembling furniture. This will last until the end of this week, after which I will be back in action.

Well, if re-training a captured Bloodhound isn't an option, then growing one should suffice. It probably will require kidnapping Syndicate scientists to interrogate them for info, so it will likely take a while to get to that, possibly until the Syndicate is permanently destroyed by the time your tech is advanced enough to do that.

That's more like it.

By the way, just to know: When should the next update be done? Next month or so?

Hard to say. I want the next version to be 1.0 (finally), which means a lot more work than usual. But I'm on it.

Can we hope to see a mortar in the game?

Yeah, it's planned.

Great work with the mod. I'm replaying from the beginning. Those weapon boxes really help in the beginning year.

Thanks for the kind words!

The rat unit is so much less useful than dogs. I'm not talking about the stats although armor for the animals don't measure up late. No, my frustration is training Reaction stats. Dog soldiers gain reaction stats for Bark weapon and for Bite weapon trains both Melee and Reaction. The highest stat Rat soldiers can utilize (Reaction) is much harder to train than everything else. It requires putting your Rat right up to an enemy and dangerously take a risk, either your rat gets killed quick or you get to pathetically bite back. The Rat seems to be even more specialized as a low HP scout than Dogs are, but it's so much harder to keep them alive than dogs to reach that potential. Please change Giant Rat Bite train both Reaction and Melee like Dog Bite does. Manufacturing armor for rats like we can for dogs would make them easier to keep alive as well.
My opinion for both Rat and Dog soldiers is they cannot run as fast as late-game soldiers. That probably has to do with the Energy refill formula. It looks at current health and the animals just don't have that much to begin with. Max health soldiers don't have as high stamina capacity but playing it feels they regain them at a faster pace; and that reduces the satisfaction of running the animal scouts; although that's just at the late stage with superhuman soldiers.

Hmm. Feels fine in general, but you're right, late game humans sort of catch up with animals, rending them obsolete.
I don't know how to deal with this without adding special armour for animals, but 1) it's rather controversial, 2) I need sprites.

Since playing this mod I have always liked using Flashlights better than Flares. Electro-Flares are less expensive but less powerful. Even with Flashlights being heavier, thus cannot be thrown as far, their light strength and their melee ability appeals to me more. So finding Shogg Lanterns worked like better flares and that later on I could buy Shogg tech like ships and weapons; I was disappointed I couldn't buy them. Looking in the Items and Research Rulesets I found the problem. Items lists being able to buy them when you can buy all the other weapons and has the sell price but without the costBuy tag it will never be available.

You're right! It's a bug, sorry.
Just add
Code: [Select]
    costBuy: 10000
to the item entry.

How about giving the single shot grenade launcher a tear gas that stuns over time? Or a rubber shell that stuns and wounds slightly? The M-79 irl had rubber rounds and tear gas that are used which I believe the grenade launcher in this mod is.

I'm not sure how to model this. Could you suggest some formula?

Offline justaround

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2581 on: July 18, 2019, 11:35:17 pm »
Hmm. Feels fine in general, but you're right, late game humans sort of catch up with animals, rending them obsolete.
I don't know how to deal with this without adding special armour for animals, but 1) it's rather controversial, 2) I need sprites.
Shouldn't it be this way? While, as you know, I am generally ambivalent toward use of animals and skeptical about their believable utility in combat setting in general, I do understand they're a choice of relatively low-cost cannon fodder/disposable trooper. Late game humans are usually super trained, sci-fi equipment totting, psychic-power wielding or futuristic-armor clad individuals and I'd be surprised if regular attack dog, no matter how armored and steroid-pumped it'd be would be a viable substitute for such.

Offline krautbernd

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2582 on: July 19, 2019, 02:28:26 am »
BTW, do we have any need for an early game high AP dame single shot rifle? Because while browsing youtube i came upon this utterly ridiculous gun which fires 20 mm caliber bullets (i.e. M61 Vulcan ammunition, altough shortened and necked down). More on the caliber on wikipedia:
Quote
By comparison, the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge, used in the M16 and M4 rifles, produces between 1,200–1,300 ft⋅lbf (1,600–1,800 J), while the .308 Winchester, a favorite for hunters and medium-range police/military sniping, produces between 2,000–3,000 ft⋅lbf (2,700–4,100 J) depending on the load used. The ballistics of the .950 JDJ are more similar to that of the 20 mm autocannon round, which delivers approximately 39,500 ft⋅lbf (53,600 J). The muzzle energy of the .950 JDJ is comparable to the kinetic energy of a 2,800 lb (1,300 kg) automobile traveling at 20 mph (32 km/h).

Apparently this was a) produced in a small series (as in three in total) and b) doesn't count as a destructive device since it got a "Sporting Use Exception" in the US. Technically this is perfectly legal for civilians, provided you can get your hands on one.

The muzzle break alone on that thing weighs more than most rifles. It's an utterly ridiculous weapon and i demand that x-com gets a way to use it. Maybe some special mission to recover it, like the arrow interceptor. Give it a limited ammunition supply. I could see this as a last resort weapon if crossbows and sporting rifles simply don't cut it and explosives are still far off. No longer will we have to run from those freak reaper encounters early in the game (well, provided you manage to bring it down with one of those ten cartridges it came with).
« Last Edit: July 19, 2019, 02:33:10 am by krautbernd »

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2583 on: July 19, 2019, 10:36:46 am »
This probably falls under Advanced Firearms, especially in 1997.
And it would definitely be strictly military level, I don't care what the US regulations say.

Offline krautbernd

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2584 on: July 19, 2019, 02:13:32 pm »
  :'(

Offline JustTheDude/CABSHEP

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Re: Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2585 on: July 19, 2019, 08:49:56 pm »
I don't really see why X-COM would need that gun. II World War Anti-Tank rifles fill such need, like Wz.35 anti-tank rifle for example and are basically more accessible for X-COM since Council looks a bit favorably at gear form that era. And for something like that there is need, like Mansion Attack where Exalt employs tank.

"Fat Mac" fits XPiratez more.

Offline Thunderwing280

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2586 on: July 24, 2019, 05:14:11 pm »
I'm not sure how to model this. Could you suggest some formula?
No idea how to but if someone is willing to try, im just throwing out ideas to be considered.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2587 on: July 24, 2019, 07:55:28 pm »
No idea how to but if someone is willing to try, im just throwing out ideas to be considered.

I'm not asking for specific code, only how it's suppose to work mathematically.
If I have this, I can think if and how it can be implemented.

Offline chitchat

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2588 on: July 26, 2019, 12:34:03 am »
Why so many naked ladies?


Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2589 on: July 26, 2019, 12:52:05 pm »
Why so many naked ladies?

Whaaaat????

I will assume wrong mod, or a trolling attempt.

Offline SparroHawc

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2590 on: July 28, 2019, 08:33:02 pm »
There are some naked person assets in the citizens pack.  They aren't used in X-Com Files, but they do exist.

Offline HT

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2591 on: July 30, 2019, 11:22:55 am »
I think he was talking about that thing with the skirmish battle generator: There's that Easter Egg where if you don't delete the "battle.cfg" placed in the game's save files location, all of your agents show up naked by default. That can still be changed by choosing another armor type for them to wear.

Offline krautbernd

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2592 on: July 30, 2019, 11:42:15 am »
There are some naked person assets in the citizens pack.  They aren't used in X-Com Files, but they do exist.
Stop the presses, this is important.

In all honesty, these are used for the paperdoll armors afaik. Please don't butcher them Solarius. If i want my squad to go buck naked against the alien menace i should bloody well be able to do so, evne if it's only in skirmishes.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2593 on: July 30, 2019, 10:19:10 pm »
Stop the presses, this is important.

In all honesty, these are used for the paperdoll armors afaik. Please don't butcher them Solarius. If i want my squad to go buck naked against the alien menace i should bloody well be able to do so, evne if it's only in skirmishes.

Sure, I'm not touching them. :)
An average player should never be able to see them anyway, unless they feel smart.

Offline SparroHawc

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9d: Samael's Passage
« Reply #2594 on: July 31, 2019, 12:48:19 am »
Stop the presses, this is important.

In all honesty, these are used for the paperdoll armors afaik. Please don't butcher them Solarius. If i want my squad to go buck naked against the alien menace i should bloody well be able to do so, evne if it's only in skirmishes.

They're used if the person implementing the citizens pack decides they want to use naked NPC corpses.  There are no nude paper dolls and no NPC sprites; just corpse sprites for the battlescape, and inventory objects.  They're just .png files, so it's not hard to find them if you look.  You could remove them with absolutely zero effect on the game AFAIK; the only thing that would happen is it might possibly stop some pearl-clutching.  Unless Solarius has sneakily included them somewhere, that is.  (Alien abduction missions??)

EDIT:  Oh hey, I was wrong - I was looking in the wrong directory.  That's a lot of nude paper doll images.

Not sure how you got that, HumanTraitor - I have a battle.cfg and when I start a skirmish, everyone has on a suit at the least.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2019, 02:50:59 am by SparroHawc »